Blood administration method



Aug. 5, 1969 H. NAFTULIN BLOOD ADMINISTRATION METHOD Filed Aug. 8. 1966 INVENTOR.

QM m muff A r TORNEYS United States Patent 3,459,182 BLOOD ADMINISTRATION METHOD Henry Naftulin, Skokie, Ill., assignor to Michael Reese Research Foundation, a nonprofit corporation of Illinois Filed Aug. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 570,816 Int. Cl. A61m 5/00 US. Cl. 128214 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for collecting blood plasma. A first quantity of whole blood is withdrawn from a donor and centrifuged to separate the red cells. The red cells are administered back to the same donor through a blood fiow tube. A second quantity of whole blood is withdrawn from the donor, centrifuged to separate the red cells and the red cells are thereafter administered back to the same donor through the blood flow tube. The containers containing the first quantity of blood and second quantity of blood are each connected to a different inlet of the same blood flow tube.

This invention relates to a novel intravenous administration method, and more particularly to an intravenous administration method having contamination prevention features.

Recent plasmapheresis techniques involve withdrawal of whole blood from the donor followed by return to the donor of the red blood cell content of the withdrawn blood. These techniques enable the withdrawal of one liter of whole blood from the average person every three days, in contrast to prior techniques in which it was necessary to wait eight weeks before 500 ml. of whole blood could be withdrawn from the average person.

The new technique usually involves the withdrawal of a liter of whole blood from the donor in two 500 ml. portions. As a first step, 500 ml. of whole blood is with drawn and mixed with an anticoagulant in a blood bag or other container, generally of a disposable type. The blood-filled container is then centrifuged to force the red cells to the bottom of the container and the plasma is extracted and fed to a plasma receptacle. The container with only the red cells remaining therein is then connected to a blood flow tube having a blood flow path including passage through a filter and a drip chamber, and from the blood flow tube a tube is connected back to the vein of the donor. Hence the red cells are returned to the donor via the flow tube.

During the interval of time in which the blood is not being taken from the donor, a small amount of saline solution is allowed to flow into his vein via the blood flow tube. A tube leading from the saline solution is connected to the same side of the blood flow tube to which the blood container is connected.

After the red cells are returned to the donor, another unit (500 ml.) of blood is collected from the donor into a second blood container. The second blood container is centrifuged, the plasma is removed and the second blood container is connected to the blood flow tube so that the red cells can be returned to the donor.

With the use of prior art blood administration equipment, the second blood container is connected to the blood flow tube by detaching the first blood container therefrom and inserting in its place the second blood container. It is seen that with prior art administration equipment, the second blood container, which has a sterile outlet, is connected to a flow tube inlet which has already received a flow of blood. The problem of contamination is present, and this problem has been recognized and solved by the present invention.

3,459,182 Patented Aug. 5, 1969 In accordance with the present invention there is provided a blood flow tube having three inlet ports or tubes, whereby one of the tubes can be connected to a saline solution container, another inlet tube can be connected to the first blood container and the third inlet port or tube can be utilized for receiving the flow of red cells from the second blood container. By means of the present invention, the need to remove the first blood container connections in order to connect the blood flow tube to the second blood container is obviated, and a sterile and more effective recipient set is provided.

A more detailed explanation of the invention is provided in the following description and is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of a blood collection and administration system, with the collection components shown in full lines and the administration components illustrated in phantom; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional elevation of a blood flow tube in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

With reference to FIGURE 1, it is seen that a first blood bag 10 is in position to receive blood from the arm 12 of a donor. As soon as the phlebotomy is performed at 14, the blood will flow into bag 10 via tube 16. Blood bag 10 is a conventional type, formed of a transparent plastic which is disposed of after use. The bag 10 contains 50 ml. 4% sodium citrate solution for collection and plasmapheresis of 500 ml. of whole blood.

The tubing 16 is also formed of plastic, and outlet ports 18 and 20 are provided for allowing separate removal of blood plasma and the red cells respectively, as will be explained in more detail below. The tubing 16 is threaded through a conventional donors scale 22 having a weight 24 which allows the blood to flow through tube 16 until 500 ml. is collected in bag 10. At that time, the arm 26 will pivot in a clockwise direction (with respect to FIG- URE l) causing the tube 16 to be clamped at 28.

When the blood bag 10 is filled, the tube 16 is heat sealed and the bag is placed in a conventional blood bag centrifuge in order to force the red cells to the bottom of the bag. After the blood is centrifuged, the plasma is removed by conventional plasma extraction techniques. The red cells remaining in the blood bag 10 are then returned to the donor in the following manner.

Generally, blood administration techniques require filtering and regulation of the blood flowing to the recipient. To achieve proper filtering and fiow regulation, a blood flow tube 30 is provided. The flow tube 30 is preferably formed of a transparent plastic material such as polyethylene, vinyl plastics, etc., and as shown most clearly in FIGURE 2, includes a tube 32 enclosing a plastic filter 34 and defining a drip chamber 36. Inlet tubes 38, 40 and 42, and outlet tube 44, are connected to the tube 32 by suitable connecting means. A preferred connection system is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,914,181, issued Nov. 24, 1959. The outlet tube 44 having a manual flow control valve 45 connected thereto, is attached to a Y-connector 46 from which a tube 48 bridges Y-connector 46 and another Y-connector 50, to which tube 16 is attached.

After the phlebotomy and during the period of time that blood is not being collected from a donor, it is conventional to allow a small amount of saline solution to flow into the vein in order to prevent clotting at the needle and to help replace a portion of the blood volume given by the donor, Inlet tube 40 is connected to the bottle 52 containing the saline solution, which solution flows to the donor via tube 40, blood flow tube 30, tube 44, tube 48, and tube 54.

To obtain the flow of red cells back to the donor, the inlet tube 42 is connected to the port 18 of blood bag 10,

so that the blood will flow together with the saline solution through the filter 34, drip chamber 36 and the tubing to the donors vein. Clamps 56 are connected to the tubing at strategic locations, in order to control the flow within the respective tube.

After the red cells have been returned to the donor, another unit (500 ml.) of blood can be collected in a second blood bag 60, which is threaded in the donors scale 22 in the same manner as the blood bag Was threaded. The process is repeated and after (1) the blood is collected and centrifuged, and (2) the plasma is extracted from the container 60, the red cells remaining in the blood bag 60 are returned to the donor. To this end, the inlet tube 38 is connected to the Outlet port 62 of the blood bag 60 so that the red cells can flow back to the donor via tube 38, blood flow tube 30, and tubes 44, 48 and 54.

It is readily seen that there is no need to remove the tube 42 from port 18 of blood bag 10 and to utilize the non-sterile tube 42 with the second blood bag 60. In contrast thereto, a separate inlet tube is connected to the blood flow tube 30 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, thereby providing a cooperation between the elements that achieves a very sterile and effective operation.

The present invention is not limited in use to plasmaphersis techniques, and it is also useful in connection with the administration of blood whenever it is desired to administer three liquids (including blood) intravenously. For example, each of the three tubes 38, 40 and 42 could be connected to a separate blood bag if the administration of three units of blood were desired. Or in other circumstances, only one of the blood flow tube inlet tubes could be connected to a blood bag and the other two tubes could be connected to different liquids which are to be given intravenously.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown, it is to be understood that various substitutions and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An intravenous administration method which comprises the continuous steps of: connecting to the vein of the recipient the outlet of a blood flow tube having a filter and drip chamber; connecting a first inlet at one end of said tube to a first solution to be administered intravenously; connecting a second inlet at said one end of said tube to a second solution to be administered intravenously;

connecting a third inlet at said one end of said tube to a third solution to be administered intravenously; regulating the flow of said solutions to the vein of the recipient; and administering said three solutions intravenously but initiating the administration of at least one of the solutions subsequent to completion of the administration of one of the other solutions.

2. A method for collecting blood plasma which comprises the continuous steps of: Withdrawing a first quantity of Whole blood from a donor into a first container containing an anticoagulant; thereafter centrifuging said first container to force the red cells to the bottom thereof; thereafter extracting the plasma from said first container into a plasma receptacle; administering the red cells back to the donor by the steps of (a) connecting an outlet of a saline solution container to a first inlet of a blood flow tube having a filter, a drip chamber and an outlet connected to the vein of the donor, to allow flow of the saline solution to the vein; and (b) connecting an outlet of said first blood container to a second inlet of said blood blood flow tube to allow flow of the red cells to the vein; withdrawing a second quantity of whole blood from the donor into a second container containing an anticoagulant; thereafter centrifuging said second container to force the red cells to the bottom thereof; thereafter extracting the plasma from said second container into a plasma receptacle; administering the red cells back to the donor by connecting an outlet of said second blood container to a third inlet of said blood flow tube to allow How of the red cells to the vein of the donor; and regulating the flow of the saline solution and the red cells to the vein of the donor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,186,987 1/1940 Nesset 21094 2,702,036 2/1955 Bent 128-214 2,758,597 8/1956 Elder 128-214 2,876,769 3/1959 Cordova 23-2585 2,901,112 8/1959 Naftulin et a1. 210-94 2,914,181 11/1959 Naftulin et a1 210-446 3,145,713 8/1964 Latham 128-214 2,674,265 4/1954 Dennis 128-213 X 3,177,870 4/1965 Salem et a1, 128-2142 3,217,711 11/1965 Pecina et al 128-214 DALTON L. TRULUCK, Primary Examiner 

